The College of Communication and Education, the Computer Graphics Club and nonprofit Tech Toss are all coming together Thursday for three hours of retro PC gaming.

The event, held in Tehama 105 from 4-7 p.m., will have something for gamers of every age to enjoy, including free pizza and an assortment of classic gamer junk food.

There will be laptops, provided by the Computer Animation and Game Development, CAGD, program, with a wide variety of vintage emulators to play.

Not everything at the retro event is going to be entirely vintage, however. There will be games created and developed by Chico State students in the CAGD program, as well.

CAGD Instructor Jeff Underwood noted how important it is for students to understand how older games paved the way for modern titles.

“Designs generally flow from previous designs,” he said. “It is important to trace the lineage back to foundational games.”

Party game “Chair Wars” and roguelike “Shapeshift Dungeon” are two of the student-created games that will be available to play. Dozens of CAGD games for PC can be found on their itch.io page. They have also developed several mobile titles.

Unfortunately, Underwood could not get his Atari 800 in working order to hook up to his vintage Mitsubishi television for the event, both of which he has had since childhood.

The gear and games Tech Toss is bringing to the event could provide countless hours of entertainment. Dakota Rose, founder of Tech Toss, provided this list:

• Ten laptops networked together for an Unreal Tournament 99 LAN
• A 1985 Commodore 128 running a rare port of Eye of the Beholder that utilized two screens
• A Windows XP era machine running an 8-player version of Killer Queen (Black Edition)
• An older beige PC running MAME with 2,500 arcade games with four full-size arcade Sanwa controller setups
• A laptop running an MMORPG, Ultima Online, from 1997
• An Apple II plus from 1979

“We are just an addendum. We do like to make a splash, though,” Rose said.

So, bust out that Apple Joystick or Microsoft SideWinder you’ve been saving for just the right occasion and get ready for a few hours of retro PC gaming.

On the way, maybe say a little prayer for Underwood’s Atari 800.

Sean Shanks can be reached at [email protected].